MN Fair Trade Coalition celebrates second annual member assembly

The Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition held its Second Annual Member Assembly on Wednesday, October 21, 2010. Of the more than 40 member organizations of the Coalition, more than half had one or more representatives in attendance, representing the coalition's diverse membership of labor, environmental, family farm, and social justice organizations.

The group assembled heard from Coalition Director Jessica Lettween on recent successes in the Coalition's work for fair trade policy including Senator Al Franken's recent co-sponsorship of the TRADE Act. Lettween also spoke about the U.S.'s three pending free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea. She emphasized the need to be particularly vigilant with the South Korea agreement because of its NAFTA-like provisions that threaten the U.S. with additional job loss, extreme foreign investor rights and financial deregulation.

Member Assembly attendees later participated in an Organizing for Trade Justice activity that generated ideas for strengthening the Coalition's future work.

Congressman Keith Ellison was presented with the Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition's 2010 Fair Trade Leadership Award. Lettween described Ellison as an "outspoken advocate for fair trade policy." In his acceptance speech, Ellison talked about the importance of keeping jobs in America, his work on 'Buy American' initiatives, and the unfair practices of many companies that exploit cheap labor in other countries. He ended by telling the Coalition, "I'm fighting there with you."

written by Jessica Lettween